This picture was taken sometime in the late 1950s, on a December day, at pig slaughter in Csömör. When over fifteen years ago we came here, it was usual to hear on some cold early mornings the last cry of a pig on the other side of the stream. Just today I realized that for years I have not heard that any more.

This picture was taken sixty-some years later, this very morning, on the same place, and similarly at pig slaughter. The Slovak minority of Csömör, to preserve the memory of this key event of old peasant life, from now on every year organizes a traditional pig slaughter on which they host the whole village.

tools and gestures we don't see anymore (and cries we don't listen no more).Slaughter was a social and ritual focus in traditional cultures, it was absolutely not only about food.Preserving old memories is preserving identity.